A spike in form during the closing stages shouldn’t overshadow the fact that South Africa’s World Cup campaign was derailed by poor batting performances under pressure, writes JON CARDINELLI.

Faf du Plessis was a joy to watch at Old Trafford. He played with freedom and he played with determination. He batted as if he would never get another chance in ODI cricket.

You could see what it meant to Du Plessis when he reached his century and lifted his hands to the sky. Collectively, the top six performed to boost the side towards their highest total at the tournament.

Not that it mattered in the context of the World Cup semi-final race. This is what the powers that be need to bear in mind when reviewing the campaign in its entirety.

How did the team perform when a semi-final place was still at stake? How did the batsmen fare under pressure?

These are the questions that matter. The stats suggest that South Africa’s top six has a lot to answer for.

SA TOP-SIX BATSMEN USED AT 2019 WORLD CUP

ENG

BAN

IND

WI

AFG

NZ

PAK

SL

AUS

AVG

AMLA

13

DNP

6

6

41*

55

2

80*

DNP

40.6

DE KOCK

68

23

10

17*

68

5

47

15

52

38.1

MARKRAM

11

45

DNP

5

–

38

7

–

34

23.3

DU

PLESSIS

5

62

38

0*

–

23

63

96*

100

64.5

VD DUSSEN

50

41

22

–

–

67*

36

–

95

62.2

DUMINY

8

45

3

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

–

14

17.5

MILLER

DNP

38

31

–

–

36

31

DNP

DNP

34.0

Consider how the better teams have performed in this area. India – who finished at the top of the table – boast the tournament’s top run-scorer in Rohit Sharma. Skipper Virat Kohli averaged more than 60 during the round-robin phase.

David Warner and Aaron Finch have fired for Australia, while Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have made important contributions for England. All of the aforementioned players have averaged more than 50 with the bat at this tournament.

Before the game against Australia, Du Plessis admitted that South Africa had underperformed over the course of the tournament. He felt that his own contribution had been good rather than great, and went on to stress that great contributions are needed by more than one individual to swing big games and push for titles like the World Cup.

The stats highlight Du Plessis’ point. The final averages have been boosted by the performances against Sri Lanka and Australia – where there was no pressure to perform. Even so, five of the players used in South Africa’s top six at some stage of the campaign have averaged 40 or less.

The games against England, India and New Zealand were always going to be campaign-shaping ones for South Africa. It’s plain to see that a lack of application shown by the top batsmen compromised the team as a whole. Sadly, this was also the case in games against opponents like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

SA TOTALS AT 2019 WORLD CUP

ENG

BAN

IND

WI

AFG

NZ

PAK

SL

AUS

207

309-8

227-9

29-2 (NR)

131-1

241-6

259-9

206-1

325-6

The consistent failings of the top six impacted on South Africa’s ability to set as well as chase big scores. Without the necessary platform, the Proteas surpassed 300 only once in key matches against England, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Du Plessis has lamented the top batsmen’s tendency to throw their wickets away as well as the dearth of substantial partnerships. South Africa managed just three partnerships in excess of 100 runs – for the first five wickets.

Two of the three big stands came in the matches against Sri Lanka and Australia – in other words, when the Proteas were already out of the playoff running and the pressure was off.

SA PARTNERSHIPS (FIRST FIVE WICKETS)

ENG

BAN

IND

WI

AFG

NZ

PAK

SL

AUS

AVG

1ST

36

49

11

11

104

9

4

31

79

37.1

2ND

8

53

13

17

27*

50

87

175*

35

66.4

3RD

85

45

54

1*

–

52

12

–

151

66.7

4TH

13

55

2

–

–

25

33

–

30

26.3

5TH

2

26

9

–

–

52

53

–

22

27.3

The stats show how the openers struggled to get South Africa off to a good start. There also appeared to be a pattern with the Proteas losing wickets cheaply when they were already two or three down. Senior men like JP Duminy and David Miller had a very poor tournament.

How they go about addressing those issues in the coming months will be key to an improved showing in 2023. We’ve seen South Africa crumbling at World Cups before, and the problems appear to be mental as well as technical.

Failure to tackle the issues head on will see history repeating itself at the next global showpiece.